2.5%

Incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan received 43.3% of the vote in Alaska’s top-four primary last night.

Dan J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher who appeared on the ballot with no party affiliation, took 2.5% of the vote.

That puts him in third place, and with most of the vote counted, it’s likely he will appear on the general election ballot alongside Sen. Sullivan this November.

The little-known Dan J. Sullivan fought a legal battle to stay on yesterday’s ballot after state election officials had initially disqualified him because his candidacy was not in “good faith.” The Alaska Supreme Court reinstated him because that standard had no basis in Alaska law.

Republicans accused Sullivan of being a sham candidate who will confuse voters and siphon votes from the incumbent.

There is evidence to support that theory, including similarities between his website and the senator’s and an initial filing in which he identified himself as “Dan S. Sullivan.”

He insists that’s not his intention, telling the New York Times yesterday that his goal is “not to trick people.”

Share post as image →

$2,000

There are no limits on the amount of money people can donate to state and local candidates in Alaska. Today, a ballot measure will ask voters to approve a limit of $2,000 for contributions to an individual candidate.

Share post as image →

10,033

Republicans have won every major statewide race in Florida since 2012, but two races in 2018 were photo finishes.

• Rick Scott won his U.S. Senate race by just 10,033 votes, or 0.1 percentage points.

• Ron DeSantis won his first gubernatorial election by 32,463 votes, or 0.4 points.

Share post as image →

11,338

Over the past three years, ticketing company StubHub has drawn 11,338 Better Business Bureau complaints. Its BBB profile cites a “significant spike in complaints” since the start of 2024 and refund requests “extensively delayed by the company.”

The Wall Street Journal →

Share post as image →

50

This year, over 50 cities and counties have cut ties with Flock, one of the country’s leading producers of public surveillance cameras. More than 20 local jurisdictions stopped using the cameras in July alone, which Flock says represents a small fraction of its customers.

Politico →

Share post as image →

48%

Just under half of California voters (48%) support Proposition 40, a one-time 5% tax on billionaires’ assets. 41% oppose the proposal and 11% are undecided. Gov. Gavin Newsom is against the proposal, while the California Democratic Party and Sen. Bernie Sanders support it.

Los Angeles Times →

Share post as image →

41%

41% of Maine voters said they were falling behind financially in a new Fox News poll. That’s an 11-point increase from the 2024 presidential election.

Fox News Poll, Fox News Voter Analysis →

Share post as image →

39.6%

If you average all ten recent polls conducted in the Wisconsin gubernatorial Democratic primary, the average level of support for Francesca Hong was 39.6%. As of this writing, she received 39.4% of the vote.

Those surveys also showed Hong leading her next closest opponent by an average of 17 points.

However, the same polls said that up to 28% of voters were undecided in late July, and the field changed several times as candidates exited and entered the race (or in the case of the winner, David Crowley, both).

Primary polling can be unreliable, especially when it comes from partisan sources. One poll sponsored by Crowley in August had him down 18 points at 24%.

But overall, the “average” – even including partisan polls – accurately estimated Hong’s level of support, and because of that, also implied that a unity challenger could win the race.

Share post as image →

26%

Milwaukee County has Wisconsin’s largest share of Black residents at 25.9%, or about 240,000 people. It’s also the only county Hillary Clinton won against Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.

Share post as image →

33x

If State Rep. Francesca Hong wins Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday night, it won’t be because of ad spending. Her campaign has spent $0 on TV ads and just $232,000 on online advertising since she entered the race. For comparison, Rep. Tom Tiffany has spent $7.6 million on TV and online ads in his Republican primary, or roughly 33 times as much as Hong.

Share post as image →

400 mg

Most healthy adults can consume about 400 mg of caffeine a day. That’s roughly nine cans of Diet Coke, four cups of coffee, or just two cans of Celsius.

The Wall Street Journal →

Share post as image →

$140,000

Attractive people earn about $140,000 more than regular people over the course of their lifetimes.

The New Yorker →

Share post as image →

66%

66% of Wisconsin Democratic primary voters aged 18-29 said they would vote for Democratic socialist Francesca Hong in a July Marquette survey. Support for her declines with age: 51% among voters aged 30-44, 37% among those aged 45-59 and just 14% among voters aged 60 and older.

Marquette Law School Poll →

Share post as image →

11%

Black voters made up 11% of Michigan’s electorate in 2024, the second-highest share of any swing state after Georgia.

Fox News Voter Analysis →

Share post as image →

30

When Abdul El-Sayed ran for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2018, he won none of Michigan’s 83 counties. As of now, he leads in 30 counties, though only two of the five most populous (Stevens leads in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb; El-Sayed in Kent and Washtenaw).

AP →

Share post as image →

1.18 million

If turnout in today’s Democratic primary in Michigan exceeds 1.18 million votes, it will set a new record for the largest turnout in any Democratic primary for statewide office in Michigan history.

The current record was set by the 2020 Senate primary, when Sen. Gary Peters ran unopposed.

The record for a contested primary belongs to the 2018 gubernatorial primary, which drew 1.13 million votes.

Share post as image →

50%

During the Michigan Senate primary campaign, nearly 50% of Abdul El-Sayed’s individual fundraising has come from donations of $200 or less (47%), while more than 50% of Rep. Haley Stevens’ individual fundraising has come from donations of $2,000 or more (51%).

FEC →

Share post as image →

35-40%

Having grown fivefold since 2016, China will account for 35-40% of global luxury spending by 2030.

Monocle →

Share post as image →

$2 million

Colonel Harland Sanders, the founder and face of KFC, sold his restaurant company to a group of investors for $2 million in 1964 (about $21.5 million today). At the time, the business had around 600 franchises. Today, it has nearly 34,000.

The New York Times, Yum! Brands →

Share post as image →

124

Gretchen Whitmer roundly defeated Abdul El-Sayed in the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary. He lost every county. He came closest in Washtenaw, where just 124 votes, or 0.2 points, separated the two candidates.

Washtenaw County →

Share post as image →